PropTech Artificial Intelligence pioneer Propic has appointed former McGrath Head of Martech Ryan Campbell as Head of Innovation, as it records significant Australian market growth and seeks to push into international markets.
In the past 10 months, since its successful $6M Series A funding, Propic has grown its team about 50 per cent to 35 people across data engineering, data science, development and property management.
It now boasts about 84 agency leader brands as customers from multi-site national franchise agencies to boutique regional pioneers.
Propic Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Gray said it’s been heartening to see Propic customers use its big data artificial intelligence (AI) platform to “connect people, property and services, find new leads, talk to more people, predict buying and selling patterns, and basically work with us to propel the real estate profession into the modern digital world”.
Mr Gray said the company’s annual recurring revenue this financial year ran into the millions of dollars and continued to grow in triple digits.
“Based on the urgency and level of inquiries we’re fielding from owners and directors of agencies of all sizes right now, I think it’s fair to say we expect that trajectory to continue into the next financial year – so it’s a great time for Ryan to join the team, and help us meet demand in other markets too,” he said.
Mr Gray said Mr Campbell would work alongside him in examining and expanding Propic’s AI offerings for real estate agencies into the New Zealand, US, UK and Canadian markets.
“Ryan’s addition really adds to our bench strength, particularly as we start looking at overseas markets, which will be a big focus for him,” he said.
“His role is to look at key markets that are of high interest to us and start to map out a strategy for expanding our success here with international agency pioneers over the next 12 months.”
Mr Gray said other Australian companies had become “category killers” in varying sectors internationally, and with no clear market leader in real estate AI, there’s no reason Propic couldn’t claim that position.
He said the Australian market had given Propic a solid foundation from which to launch.
“If you look at Canada, the UK and the US, there’s a total addressable market for our technology at around $2.5 billion a year,” Mr Gray said.
“And there is no clear global leader in artificial intelligence in real estate. So why can’t another Australian company become the category leader?
“The answer is, it absolutely can and we’re humbled to be in prime position to do so.”
Mr Gray said Propic already had a pilot customer in the UK and was part of the accelerator program for the National Association of Realtors, which is a minor shareholder in the company.
“That provides us a solid platform for the US,” he said.
Mr Gray said he was pleased Mr Campbell has now joined the Propic team.
“Ryan has a very solid reputation in the industry,” he said.
“He is very well respected in terms of his technology skills and his inherent understanding of the real estate vertical.
“We’re investing millions of dollars in big data AI research and development every year, and having someone with that in-depth knowledge of the industry, and a really solid marketing and technology background is pretty rare, so we’re very pleased he chose Propic for the next phase of his journey.”
Mr Campbell said he was equally enthusiastic to join Propic.
“I am looking forward to a new challenge driving innovation that impacts the entire ecosystem of real estate, with the flexibility of cloud-based AI to truly tailor solutions to individual agency networks and needs,” he said.
“The next generation of modern real estate agencies will be driven by Propic, and I’m personally and professionally motivated to play a significant part in that digital transformation.”
Other recent appointments at Propic in the past six months include David Choi as Chief Commercial Officer and Strategist, Jonathan Yuen as Industry Lead in Project Marketing, and Katharine Ettenhofer as Industry Lead in Property Management and Investment.
“From day one, what we’ve wanted to do and what we have done is blend people with a really deep understanding of real estate with some of the brightest minds outside that vertical that have really advanced technology capability, and bring those two groups together,” Mr Gray said.
